Camping in Central Oregon

For Labor Day weekend, we decided to take a camping trip with my parents (also known as "The G-PAs" to Lucy). A close family friend of ours owns a piece of property in the Bend/Sunriver area where my parents have their camper parked so we have a place to cook and have a campfire and while we could have camped with our tent again, there is an A-frame for us to sleep that is insulated from the heat and bugs.

Bend/Sunriver is in Central Oregon, about 4-hours from Portland. We arrived and Lucy loved the car ride and immediately loved the campsite...lots to sniff and lots of sticks to chew on. Clark and I were able to golf one day and we were able to drive about 1 hour to Crater Lake National Park to check out that National Landmark. It was AWESOME and somewhere we had never been before. Very breathtaking and awesome. We played games of solitare, sat by the fire, made s'mores, and even saw some wildlife.

At one of our rest stops on the drive over...interesting signage...sad, but must be true for them to post this stuff

Mom at some historic looking bridge overlooking a steep cliff
Andi

Lucy at the campsite - loving it

sacked out in the backseat of the car in Grandma Dog's lap

Crater Lake National Park

Clark golfing

Andrea golfing - I seemed to find all the sand bunkers

Clark shuffling and getting ready to play cards with me

Mom cooking dinner in the camper

Our campsite

First Family Camping Trip

I found a 3-person Coleman tent on sale at target earlier this summer and it has been itching to be used for the first time...so we decided to take our first family camping trip. We left early on Saturday for Port Townsend, a cute little coastal town on the Northwestern tip of the Kitsap Peninsula. We camped at Fort Worden State Park, which had both forest and beach camping sites. We opted for the beach camp site and while there was relatively little privacy between campsites, it was within walking distance to the beach and we could fall asleep listening to the sound of the waves.

It was great. Lucy loved the car ride, Clark loved that the tent was crimson and gray, and I loved packing all sorts of snacks and food. We set up camp midday on Saturday and then hiked around the coast...it was beautiful. Nothing like camping to make you sit down, relax, maybe read a book, or just simply enjoy each other's company and talk. It was chilly at night, but we had a 90-lb dog snuggled in between us to keep us warm.

Unfortunately, Clark had to leave early the next morning to work - BOO! But I didn't let that spoil the rest of our little weekend getaway. After dissembling our tent and packing up our campsite, Lucy and I walked around downtown Port Townsend, which is a charming little antique town. Lots of cute shops. Then we went to the beach and enjoyed the sunshine...I read my book while Lucy laid in the sand. Despite our best efforts to get her to swim in the water, Lucy didn't go far enough to swim, but she did enjoy wading in the water.

We will be camping next weekend with the G-PAs (grandparents) down in the Bend/Sunriver, OR area, so this was a test...Lucy passed with flying colors.

Clark actually read the instructions on how to set up the tent - a first!
Clark and Lucy in front of our tent

Our tent and campsite

Taking a hike along the beach just minutes from our campsite

The view just minutes from our campsite

Lucy's pawprints in the sand

Lucy staked her claim on our air mattress bed early

Lucy found a stick to chew on...ahh, the simplicities of being a dog

Lucy and me hanging out at the beach